Uh....oh...

[VehiGAZ]

I bet you could get a lot of input from this site if you just explained what exactly the symptoms were.

What he said!

Tell us what problems you are having with the VX (one by one) and what you did to try to fix them, and we'll try to help out.

[Anita]

Did anyone suggest that you replace the mode switch and then adjust/clean the shift mechanism or the auto trans shifter lever?

When the truck is in gear do you notice the dashboard shift lights D, 3rd, 2nd, etc. flashing, or sometimes showing the wrong gear?


Any of you mechanical minded VX guys near where she lives?

[johnnyapollo]

I too had the revving thing going on with mine, about the second year I owned my proton. It would inexplicably rev up and this would cause it to be difficult to engage a gear (from start), or it would go the opposite and idle as such a low RPM that it would stall in when stopped at a light. I'm not sure what I did to fix it - but it seems like changing the gas filter and cleaning out the EGR had a huge impact (plus running some injector cleaner through the gas - I also changed to mid-grade fuel - 89 octane in these parts). After a while it just went away, but it might be due to my being more cognizant in taking care of the truck. Back when my Toyota would act in a similar fashion, a thorough cleaning of the throttle body seemed to fix it right up for 6-8 months or so, then I would have to take it apart and clean it out again.

While removing the old plenum to install the super charger, I noticed tons of gunk in the cylinder heads (along the edges where fuel didn't hit with pressure), the inside of the plenum, the throttle body and all along the intake pipe. I hadn't disembled everything like that before so it was an eye opening experience. We cleaned everything thoroughly before replacing with the alpine manifold and the SC aside, it seemed to be breathing better. After reading about the new torque setting for the intake manifold I can understand why the intake gaskets leak - the SB shows much less torque than what is indicated in manuals, and they probably came from the factory over-torqued. Since they are phenolic with thin metal sleeves, even a slight over-torque could cause something to fail - my guess as to why the setting was reduced. It might take the removal of the plenum and a good cleaning, but at minimum I would try a few things: replace gas filter, clean EGR (replace gasket), replace PCV and fill up with good gas with an injector cleaning additive - that should address the revving/dying issue. If that doesn't fix things, try cleaning the Throttle Body and and doing a tranny flush with filter exchange (might want to do that anyway if things are shifting poorly). Finally, taking off the plenum, cleaning everything out well and replacing the intake manifold gaskets should wipe out all those as potential causes of your issues. If I was closer I would bring John Schellenberg over and we'd give it a once over - otherwise it's a bit of a haul from Atlanta.

-- John

[etlsport]

yea sounds like mode selector switch and fuel pressure regulator to me.. try replacing those along w/ running some injector cleaner through and i think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.. dont give up yet friend!

[JHarris1385]

yea sounds like mode selector switch and fuel pressure regulator to me.. try replacing those along w/ running some injector cleaner through and i think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.. dont give up yet friend!

What he said. I second that.

[mdwyer]

Yep, the shift lights usually do show the wrong gear I've noticed, so I will definitely check into what you guys are tellin' me. Mdwyer....if your up for it, meeting you would be fantastic as your experience with the mode switch seems to be what I need! LoL. Thanks.

Well, that pretty much tears it: you need a mode switch. Hit the internet and grab part 8-96017-511-0 "SWITCH ASM; POSITION". The place I got mine called it a "Neutral Safety Switch", but it might also be a MODE SWITCH or TRANSMISSION RANGE SWITCH. It lists for $184 (Yikes!), but you shouldn't pay more than $120 for it. Or, I should say, if you pay much less than $120 for it, I'm going to feel really stupid. I wouldn't recommend used parts for this one.

After that, park it somewhere where you can work on it and let it cool down for a while, then the swap probably takes under four hours. It took me that long (across two days!) but I spent half that time searching for the correct tools.

[WormGod]

Mdwyer, make VXCHIC happy will ya. Glad you live nearby enough to lend a hand. These all sound like known issues, but a good thorough investigation will determine that. No sense in letting the VX go because some techs at a shop cant figure out the problem, probably because they just dont want to work on a discontinued vehicle (you would be surprised at how many techs will turn down these jobs).

We (well, I will offer internet cheerleader support) will get ya going again. None of these problems sounds like anything new to the VX.

[mdwyer]

About 2 weeks out of every month when going from 2nd to 3rd it shifts REAL hard (makes a pretty annyoing clunk sound). Pretty scary. And for the last few months it now does it going down from 4th to 3rd. Now, I have read many posts on this, but have tried many things that were said to do...VX is still doin' it and as the months progress it seems to worsen. But as I said, it only happens about 2 weeks out of each month.

Well, the hard 2/3 shift SCREAMS mode switch to me. Next time it does that to you, try pulling over, turning it off, and shifting from P to 1 a couple times before restarting. After you start and shift to D, keep an eye on the dashboard indicators. You only get 5 seconds to see this, then the computer defaults to D. If they show the wrong gear (eg, you're in D but it is showing R), that's another hint that it's the mode switch. This problem drops codes, too. Has anyone pulled codes from it?

I've got an OBDII reader and experience with the mode switch. Maybe HERE's another reason to get all the CO VXers together...